


five robins and a bat dad

by muselesswriter



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics), Teen Titans (Animated Series)
Genre: Batfamily (DCU), Character Study, Family Feels, Gen, I'm Bad At Tagging, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Memories, My First Fanfic, POV Third Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-14
Updated: 2019-10-14
Packaged: 2020-12-16 04:02:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21029930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/muselesswriter/pseuds/muselesswriter
Summary: when Bruce Wayne sits down on his usual seat at the table, he looks around at the chairs that were filled by his Robins over the years, he remembers a thing or two, missing the good old days where they were still home.





	five robins and a bat dad

When they aren’t fighting crimes, Wayne’s family were just like any other normal family, or at least that’s what Bruce thought, after all, he didn’t really know what family is like, not after his parents' death at least, the closest thing to adult guidance he’s ever had is Alfred, he’s not complaining but his butler could only do much, and now, that he’s responsible for several numbers of teens, he wasn’t sure how to handle it, each one was different, each had a story of their own.  


When he adopted Dick Grayson, yes it was because he felt bad for the boy but no that didn’t make it any easier for Dick, even after years of living with the multi-billionaire he’d still feel like a burden, like he’s nothing more than a charity work, even when Bruce told him thousands of times that he’s not, that’s why Dick Grayson would do anything to make himself seem useful, whether, in the mansion or the cave, he’d always do whatever it takes to make himself valuable.  


Bruce has plenty of paperwork to do? No problem, Dick would read all the files and sort them out for him from important to less important, from interesting to rejected, he’d use colors, stickers, sticky notes, even write him summaries of the projects or the cases, and the man learned to simply allow him to do it, it was his way of coping, he’d say “what would I do without you” or “you saved my ass, once again Dick” and it would be more than enough for the boy to feel appreciated and let his guards down for a while.  


Another thing about Dick, his need to prove himself worthy made him easy to deal with, he’s never in troubles at school, he always completes the tasks, yes an argument happens every now and then but they were rare and only when things were really bad, like the one time Dick worked on a case for several days without sleep, and how tired he was made him lose an important evidence that was supposed to imprison the criminals they were after.  


Bruce noticed that Dick saw him as a role model not only a guardian, he’d spend time with him as much as he could, he’d observe from him and imitate him in his way, that made the man show his best sides, sometimes Bruce would whine about how he rarely gets to do anything on his own, Grayson would raid his “me time” but yet, the man loved every minute of it.  


Jason Todd was another story, another difficult code for Bruce to figure, with Dick, it was easy to tell what he wanted and what he needed, he could ask him what was wrong when he was upset and Dick would answer him immediately, but Jason wasn’t like that at all, he remembers the first few months when he took him off the streets and adopted him, he was so cheerful and wanted to explore the whole mansion in less than a day, which was impossible but Jason made it possible, he remembers the joy in his eyes when he showed him his new room, the excitement of having a place of his own, clean clothes, toys, and not having to worry every second on whether someone would steal it all was filling the room.  


But as the years went by, the boy changed, he’s not the little joyful lad anymore, there’s darkness in him that Bruce couldn’t quite understand, and as he grew, explaining his feelings became harder and harder, that sometimes Bruce would just give up on trying to figure out what’s the problem, he wouldn’t go to him and say “Bruce, I think I need help, I’m having nightmares none stop” no, he’d throw a random tantrum at him and expect him to understand, he wouldn’t go and say “I don’t think I’m okay” no, he’d steal the batmobile so he’d grab his attention, in his head, if he’d do whatever he could to grab Bruce’s attention, maybe the Bat would notice there’s something wrong with him, maybe he’ll get him help.  


Maybe Bruce was a little bit busier than when Dick was around but that doesn’t mean he didn’t make time for him, it was a challenge for him to find an activity they would both enjoy, he tried watching a movie together, but Jason fell asleep almost halfway through the movie, and whenever Bruce would shift or move the boy would jump awake and ready to fight, it was torture, he tried calmer things like fishing but Jason grew bored of it, even board games weren’t that fun to the boy, but the one thing they both enjoyed was car rides.  


Jason was the troublemaker of the family, Bruce could remember how many times he had to leave his work to look after the boy, they’d fight very often, but they’d always make up, deep down Jason couldn’t help but think Bruce would end up kicking him out back to the streets, in his mind, if he pushed all of his buttons maybe the man would do it and save him the overthinking about it, after all, he’s not a well-behaved doll-like Grayson, he’s the troubled boy, even when Bruce told him several times that it would never happen, and he’d never regret adopting him in first place.  


Tim Drake wasn't a golden child like Dick Grayson, neither a troublemaker like Jason Todd, he was both, he was the two of them combined to make one extraordinary boy, Bruce remembered how Tim was curious of a nature, he'd help him with investigations and always point out the things that the Batman thought they weren't important, the boy admired the elder robins and would ask Bruce questions about them whenever he had a chance, what they were like, what did they enjoy, he idolized them.  


Bruce knew from the very beginning that Tim would make a great detective, that's why he always involved him whenever there's a mystery that needed to be solved, he even solved the mystery of the missing pair of socks! yes, the boy asked too many questions and some weren't as necessary, yes, he gave Alfred a headache now and then but other than that the boy brought joy to the bat's life.  


just like his brothers, Bruce made sure to make time for him, they'd bring jigsaw puzzles and spend hours solving them together, Tim always insisted on not knowing what shape it should form to make it more difficult for himself and Bruce, they'd sit on the couch and spend hours trying to put the pieces all together, he remembered the expressions of frustration on the boy's face, yet, he never gave up and peaked at the cover picture on the box, and when they finally put the pieces together, Tim would look at him so proud of his accomplishment.  


Stephanie Brown was the rebel one, she, like Grayson felt the need to prove herself to Bruce, but unlike Dick, she was a little bit chaotic, for example; if Dick wanted to bake a cake, he'd bake it quietly, clean after himself, cut equal pieces for everyone, put the slices on plates and set them on the table, even Alfred would be surprised of when he had the time to do all of that, but when Stephanie tried to bake a cake, the whole house will know, the kitchen would be trashed, the cake would probably be burnt by the time she gets it out, that's how she got herself a restraining order by Alfred, taking away her kitchen privileges.  


But Bruce loved the girl dearly, he knew her intentions were good, she had a heart of gold, perhaps he's playing favorites, if any of the boys would get into as many troubles as she does, he'd be having '"the talk" but when Stephanie did it, he'd ask her to see where she went wrong until she masters whatever she's doing, deep down the boys were jealous of how she's treated.  


Damian Wayne was the one who made Bruce worry the most, he's not a child even when he was just a child, he's a soldier, raised as a soldier, he didn't enjoy running around the garden like Dick, he enjoyed using the bushes for his training, imagining them as targets, he didn't like playing with toys, action figures, and cars like Jason, he enjoyed watching the figures and the cars of his enemies burn down and explode, he didn't enjoy puzzles like Tim, he'd rather be handed a name and get it over with it, the Ra's al Ghul way, he didn't enjoy baking like Stephanie, unless he'd be able to add poison as his secret ingredient.  


Bruce told him over and over "justice not vengeance" until the younger started repeating the words on his own whenever he had the urge to slice someone open, Bruce spent days and days, desperately trying to make him understand the joy of the simple things, like watching a good movie in the screening room or going for a swim at the indoor pool for a reason no more than to have fun, but the boy was so concentrated, like a soldier, never letting his guards down.  


it took him months to make him understand, life isn't just training and missions, it was something far more beautiful, and when Damian finally accepted that, things became slightly easier.  


however the two of them had something in common, they both were very serious about their training, that was their special time, and even though the Bat would never admit it out loud but he might've learned a move or two from the little warrior, they bonded that way.  


and now Bruce was sitting on the empty chair at the table, wondering what each of his Robins was doing, the table that was once filled with laughter and noises is all quiet, it felt cold, so cold and lonely, that even his favorite meal didn't seem as delicious as it used to be once.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, this is my very first work so I'm sorry that you had to suffer through that, but I really hope you guys like it, leave me something in the comments! and have a nice day


End file.
